Autonomous vehicles have the ability to operate without the intervention of a human operator, e.g., driver, that is, a vehicle computer makes decisions about accelerating, braking, and steering the vehicle. A vehicle may be fully autonomous or semi-autonomous. A semi-autonomous vehicle may be autonomous only in particular situations, for example, highway driving or parallel parking, or with respect to certain vehicle subsystems, for example, braking but not acceleration or steering.
When a vehicle is driving autonomously, a vehicle computer, sometimes referred to as a “virtual operator” or “virtual driver,” may send signals directly to the engine, brakes, and steering; the signals need not pass through the controls accessible to the human operator, the pedals and steering wheel. A steering wheel that does not move while the vehicle moves, however, may disorient the human operator. On the other hand, a steering wheel that rotates dramatically with sharp turns taken by the vehicle may also disturb the human operator. Moreover, a handover may become more difficult if a steering wheel is not moved during autonomous operation of steering, and if the human operator does not know the orientation of the front wheels of the vehicle.